Balkans

Greece’s President Karolos Papoulias, during a trip to Belgrade, told media on Thursday that Greece gives Serbia its full support to European integration, hoping that the visa liberalisation process for Serbian citizens would be resolved by the end of the year. At a news conference with his Serbian counterpart Boris …

FOR months the opinion polls suggested that Albania’s election would be close. Most pundits said they were wrong, because respondents were giving unreliable answers. Now Albanian opinion polling has come of age. So close was the June 28th election that, four days later, the result was still unclear. Albania faces …

TIRANA – Albania’s opposition Socialist Party said on Thursday it was premature for any party to claim victory ahead of the final results of the country’s election the ruling Democratic Party has already claimed it has won. Prime Minister Sali Berisha said he would wait for the Central Election Commission …

SARAJEVO – Vijeće ministara BiH imenovalo je jučer Biljanu Čamur i Dženanu Hodžić za svoje predstavnike u Komisiji za izbor direktora Direkcije za evropske integracije (DEI) BiH. Time je deblokirana procedura imenovanja prvog čovjeka ove direkcije, koja mjesecima nema direktora. Predsjedavajući Vijeća ministara Nikola Špirić rekao je da su razgovarali …

Povećanje akciza na cigarete i kafu potpuno je opravdan potez vlasti BiH. Normalno je i prihvatljivo da se najveći porezi ubiru na luksuznim proizvodima. Problem sa Zakonom o trošarinama mogao bi biti povećanje cijene goriva. Većina proizvođača i trgovaca osnovnim životnim namirnicama u finalnu cijenu proizvoda ukalkuliše i cijenu goriva. …

SOFIA Bulgarian government in line with the European Commission requirements must make connections with gas systems of Romania and Greece as soon as possible. This is what chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Digless Technology Eng. Stefan Zhelyazkov said.

TIRANA, Albania Vote counting has hit a snag due to serious disagreements between the major political parties in a couple of regions. The Central Election Commission (CEC) says that with 98% of votes tallied, the ruling coalition headed by the Democratic Party (DP) won 70 of the 140 seats in …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands The war crimes trial against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will not start before September, tribunal Judge Ian Bonomy said on Wednesday (July 1st). Karadzic, however, rejected and said the date is too soon because reviewing materials related to the case would take “several months”.

ATHENS, Greece A strong earthquake registering 5.9 on the Richter scale was registered south of the island of Crete on Wednesday (July 1st). The epicentre was 30km deep in the Mediterranean Sea, about 450km southeast of Athens. A second quake, registering 4.5, occurred several minutes later. No injuries or damage …

WASHINGTON, United State Democracy watchdog Freedom House said on Tuesday (June 30th) that democratic development in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania is stable, while a drop is seen in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In its 13th report on “Nations in Transit”, the organisation described 2008 as a generally …